Door



March 18, 1941. w s o 2235413 DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 30, 1939D W 1 flm m 4 zauunuannnrn unnunun lo 18 5 20 H j//fl/ Club". 443

B. B. WESTMORELAND ,235,4l3

March 18, 1941 DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30, 19 39 cil/ 30 jn ucnio 4 BAJCOM B. MISTMOEELAND dum.

Patented Mar. 18, 1941 m r-En rss PATENT OFFICE &DOOR

BascomB; Westmoreland, Houston, Tex.

ApplicationMarch 30, 1939 ,-Seria1'No. %64,941

11 Claims.

This invention'relates to ;a tdoor.

The 'invention 'relates :more'zparticularly to a vertically movable, or`.what is. commonlyknown as an overhead door and relates also to themeans for mounting and operating'the: door.

The type of door' and Operating me'chanism therefori has beenparticularly 'designed' for use on .garagesand similaroutbuildingsalthough it is capable of general use wherever a door ofthis type maybedesired.

An object of the invention' isto provide a door of the 'characterdescribed, which; when in* closed position, 'stands vertically andwhich, when in open position, is disposed'horizontally' overhead.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a novel mounting for the'door whereby the door may be easily opened; that `is, may be movedupwardly into' horizontal, open positionan'dsafely maintained inthat'position and wherebytheidoor may` be readily movedinto vertical, or'closed position with safety and'without 'danger' of the door suddenlydropping and injuring itself or the operator.

A'urther object of the invention is to provide, in the door mounting,atension member which is placed under' tension as'- the 'door is loweredto closed position thus acting as a shock' absorber and' also preventingthe sudden dropping of the door to closed position' and which ismaintained under suflcient tension to hold the door in open, orhorizontal, position.

The invention -also embodies racks on the door facing and on the door towhich' the door' itself isgeared and by means of which the 'door isguided into open or closedposition.

With the above and other 'objects in View the invention has particularrelation' to certain 'novel features of Construction, operation andarrangement of parts,` an example of which' is'given'xin thisspecification and illustrated in :the accompanying drawings, wherein-Figu'e' 1 shows aninsideview of the door shown in closed position.

`Figure 2 shows c a horizontal, sectional View taken on the line 2-2 ofFigure l.

Figure 3 shows a vertical, sectionalview' taken on the line 3-3 ofFigure 1,'and

Figure 4 shows a sectional view 'ofthe door .in open, horizontal,overhead position.

Referring now more particularly'to" the' drawings Wherein like numeralsof'reference 'designate the same parts in each of the figures, thenumeral I designates the'sdoor whichtmay' be of any selectedConstruction, whichis preferably rectangular in shape to fitzwithin'a''dclosetthe opening 2 of a garage or other building structure 3.

Over the door opening there' is a 'horizontal guide rod as 4- whoseforward end is'anchored to the building structure over the door'openingand 6 preferably centered With respect to said opening and whose otherend is supported'by any suitable anchor 5 usually' a 'convenient portionof the building"framework. 'slidably mounted on the rod 4 there is asleeve-like bearing-G surrounding' which* there' is 'ama-mp1 open 'at'one side'and having the outwardly turned' lugs 8; 8 'in parallelrelation. `A-link'!! has its upper'end'ftted between the lugs 8 andpassing through' said lugs and through said end of the link there "is aclamp` 15 bolt IO. 'The link is angle-shaped having its ends arrangedat'approximately'right angles' to each other. zsecu'edori the inner;side of the doornear the upper ma'gin of the door'are' the` bra'ckets|I,'|l spaced' apa'rt :between 'which the forward' endof the link'isfitted and-'afclamp^bolt !2 is fitted through said brackets'-and.through the forward'endof the' link. The 'link is thus piv-`otally'connected'at one end' to" the :door and 'at its other" end" tothe clamp 1. 'Accordingly,- as

' the' door isi moved upwardly' the 'bearing^6"will move inwardly along'the guide'rod or? track 4` and the'door will gradually move toward a'horizontal. position and' when it reaches the 'limit of its upwar'dmovement it will assume'a' horizontal positionas 'shown: in'Figure' 4.

:At opposite margins'of'the door on' the inner side'thereof there arethe rack members l3, !3 extending from the 'bottom of the' door upwardlythe required distance. The eridsof 'said'rack members 13 'are outwardlyturned and securedto the dooras more'clearly-shown' in Figures 1 and2-so as' to space the racks'themselvesinwardly from the door. -As shownthese rack members !3 are formed of'metalstrips of the required strength'which-have the. spacedperforations M toreceive the' teeth of thecorresponding gears !5,15. These gears arelocated between the racks |3`and the door. *They are fixed -on the transverse drive shaft !6.Fastened -tothe door' on the-inner sides of the-racks l5 are thevertical angle irons ll, ll whose outwardly-'extended flanges |8 formvertical tracks. Fixed on'the shaft !6 are'the grooved rollers lil-whichrun on said tracks l8 thus forming guide means for the door.

On the inner' side of the door facingsare the vertical-pack members 30,20 -whose ends are forwardlyaturned and fastened to the door facings.Thev'extend'frommhe top of the-door the shaft (6 are the guide rollersZa, 24 which' run in said channels 23 thus providing additional guidemeans for the door.

Accordingly, as the door is elevated the racks !3 will turn the gears !5and the shaft IS and the gears 22 Will be correspondingly turned andwill travel up the racks 20. The gears 22 will be maintained in meshwith the racks 20 by the guide rollers 24 and the guide channels 23.

Fastened on the shaft IS between the tracks- |8 there is a sleeve 25which rotates With said shaft and loosely mounted on said sleeve thereis a tension arm 25. At one end this tension arm has an extendedsleeve-like hearing 21 on the sleeve 25 and at its other end there is' agrooved roller 28 mounted on said arm.

Fastened on the inside of the door I there is a 'tension bracket 23. Theends of this bracket are forwardly turned and fastened *to the door asmore clearly shown in Figures l, 2 and 3. It has an inwardly extendedfi-ange 33 extending 'from end to end thereof as more .clearly shovm inFig- 35 ures 2 and 3 along which the roller 28 travels. On the sleeve 25and fastened theret o there is a sleeve-like anchor 3l :and surroundingthis anchor at .one end and surrounding the bearing 21 'at its other endthere is a coil tension spring 32 one end of which is fastened to theanchor 3 and the Other end of which is fastened to the tension arm 26.This spring is coiled in a direction such that as the door is loweredand the shacflt |6 coiresp ondingly turned the spring 32 will be placedunder tension thus causing the door to move gradu-ally downwardlytoward` closed position, acting as a Shock absorber and prevent/ing thesudden dropping of the door. Accordingly, when the door is in closedposition the spring 32 wi ll be under considerabie tension thus actingas a counter-balance and acting to assist in elevating the door when itis desired to open the same. As the door is elevated the tension of thespring 32 will be only p antially relieved to the end that when the dooris in fully opened position, as shown in Figura 4, the spring will stillhave sum-cienrt tension to hold the door open. It is therefore evi-dentthat .the spring 32, when installed, should be installed underoonsiderable tension sufiicient to maintain the door open when inopen-position and as the door is closed the tension will be 'increased,for the purposes above stated, .to not only permit the door to graduallymove to closed position but to `also assist in open ing the door.

The drawings and description disclose what is now considered to be aprefer red form of the invention by way of illustration only, while thebroad prinoiple of the inVe-ntion will be defined bythe appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination a building structure having an opening provided withside faoings, a, door for closing the opening, rack members on thefacings, ra ck members on the door, a fioa ting shaft on the door gearedto said rack members, guide means for gui'ding the door horizontallyinwa-rdly upon upward movement thereof, tension means arranged to beplaced under tension by the shaft as the door is moved downward toclosed position and to be relieved from said tension as the door ismoved upwardly to open, horizontal position.

2. The combin'ation with a structure having a door opening, of a doorfor closing the opening, a vertical rack on each side of the opening, aVertical rack on the door, a fioating shaft on the door geared to saidracks, and a tension member connected with the sh'aft and door and whosetension is varied as the door is moved upwardly and do wnwardly.

3. The combinaition with a structure having an opening,`of a verticalrack on the structure, a door for closing the opening, a rack on thedoor, a shaft on the door geared to the racks to rotate in accordazncewith the door movements, a tension member connected to the shaft anddoor and whose tension Varies in accordance with the notation of theshacft.-

4. The combination with a structure having an opening, of a Verticalrack on the structure, a door movabie upwardly into horizontal, openposition and movabl downwardly into vertical position to close theopening, a rack on the door, a sha-ft geared to said racks to rotate inaooordance with the door movements, gui-de means for guiding the doorinto horizontal position upon upwarrd movement of the door, a tensionmember operatively connected with the shaft and door and whose tensionvarias in aaccordance with the no tatio-n of the shaft to check themovement of the door towards closed position.

5. The combin-ation with 'a structure having an opening, of a. verticalrack on the structure, a door movable upwardly into horizontal, openposition and movable downwardly into Vertical position to close theopening, a rack on the door, a shaft geared to said racks to rotate inaccordanoe with the door movements, guide means for guiding the doorinto horizontal position upon upward movement of the door, -a tensionmember operatively connected with the shaft and door and whose tensionvaries in aocordanc with the rotation of the shaft to check the movementof the door towards closed posi-tion and to assist the movement of thedoor toward open position.

6. The eombination with a, door of vertical, stationary racks, Vertical,stat'ionary guides, racks fixed on the door, a shaft, gea r Wheels fixedon the shaft in mesh with said racks, means on the shaft which cooperatewith sai-d guide to guide the movements of the shacft, a coil springabout the shaft one end of which is attached thereto, a tension arm onthe shaft to which the other en d of said spring is attached, means onthe door cooperating' with the tension arm to maintain sai-d springunder tension, said spring being arranged to be placed under tensionupon movement of the door in one direction and to be relieved of tensionupon movement of the door in the other direction. i

7. In c-ombinati on vertical, stationary racks arranged on oppositesides of a door opening, a door movable into Vertical position t-o closethe opening and movable into a horizontal, overhead open position, rackson the door, 'a shaft gear-.ed to the stationary racks and to the rackson the door, stationary guides forming bearings along which the shaftmoves as the door is moved to open or closed position.

8. In combinati-on vertical, s tetionary racks alrranged on oppositesides of the door opening, a doo-r mov ab le into vertical position toclose the opening and movahle into a hoiizonital, overhead openposition, racks on the doo-r, a shaf-t geamed to the stationary Packsand to the Hacks on the door, stationary guides fo rming bearings alongwhich the shefit moves as the door is moved to open or closed positionand guide means for guiding 'the door into honizontal .position as thedoor is opened.

9. The combination with a structure having an opening, of a verticalhack on the structure, a door for ol osing the opening, a :nach on :thedoor, a shaft on the door geai'ed to the racks to rotate in acco-rctanceWith the door movements, a tension member conneoted to the shaf t and'door and whose tension varies in accordanoe With the rotation of theshaft, guides on the door and guide Wheels on the shaft which travelalong said guides as the doorr is moved.

10. In oombina'tion vertical, stationary racks arranged on opp ositesides of the door opening, a door movable into ve' tioal position toclose the opening and movable in to a horizontal, overhead openposition, racks on the door, a. shaf t geared to the stationary nacksand to the nacks on the door, stationary guides forming bearings alongwhich the shaft moves as the door is moved to open or closed. position;and guide means i'or guiding 'the door into horizontal position as thedoor is opened, guides on the door and guide nollers on the shaft whichtravel along the guide-s on the door as the door is moved.

1'1. The oomhination with a struoture having a door opening, of a doorfor closing the opening, sai-d door being movable to vertical positionto close the opening and being m ovable to horizontal, ove head, openposition, means inoluding nacks 'on the door and structure and a floatmgshaxft geared to the racks for guiding the door as it moves :to eitherof said positions, a tensioning devioe arranged to counte b alance thedoor and whose tension is ncrease d as the door moves to closed positionand relieved a;s the door moves toward open position.

BA SCOM B. WES'IMORELAND.

